Having studied so much about the advent of Gutenberg printing press in my bachelors, this was simply fascinating! And Stephen Fry, the voice of wonder hosts the program! ♥

This is just extraordinary. I didn't realise that he had to invent so many other items to make his major invention work too. We owe him so much. How exciting, too, to be Stephen Fry! Actually getting to be hands on in creating!

To see Stephen Fry here in this Documentary. A Pure Bliss. A Delight

Really enjoyable although somewhat surprised nothing was mentioned about the manufacture and make up of the ink which would have been handmade in batches possibly in Gutenberg's workshop itself.

This is a very thoughtfully done video. It does well in sorting out how Gutenberg might have problem solved and been influenced to assemble the varied technologies to begin printing books. One can argue the histories of "who invented what" first, but JG put them together and made a scalable and efficient process that was the pivotal point in history. That is the point and purpose of the video--to explore the thought and inventiveness that assembled all of this into a revolutionary method of sharing written information...

Like the series' title, this episode magnified my perspective on the start of mass printing, and of Gutenberg. And, who better than Stephen Fry to present it. Well done.

Fantastic. Thank you Stephen and everyone involved 🙂

Incredible.. I just didn't want it to end.. such a valuable hour this was!

What a beautiful documentary, so much love in those words that tells this amazing discovery

Thank you for this wonderful documentary.

Im taking a printing class for my visual arts program and i must say I have a new appreciation for this craft. this was an amazing documentary and how 4 men got together to print a page with original letters . fascinating and interesting video. enjoyed this very much

Love the info in this video. Love the way it's all put together even more. What's best tho is the humor thru out...36:36 had me roaring.

Extraordinary documentary! Really awesome! Thank you!

Hello. The first movable metal type print was invented about 200 years earlier than Gutenberg in Korea(Goryeo at the time). Jikji was the world's first Korea Buddhist book printed with movable metal type in 1337 in Goryeo.

This was fascinating! Now I wanna learn even more.

Really enjoyed this. Thanks

Originally, the words were dictated down to the beholder. Gutenberg on the other hand gave us a means in which knowledge was handed around, literally.

My respect for printmaking after watching this! ❤️🙌🏽

As marvelous as this invention was, one can't help but wonder how much further advanced humanity would be right now if instead of heinously hoarding "the Word" for centuries, these self-indulging religions had instead insisted that every man, woman and child be given the opportunity to learn how to read and write it from the very beginnings of its development.

Sehr güt! Danke!

So beautiful Even we have computers ,technology but well I would like to see and touch this Gutenberg Bible I like way the Stephen Fry present this information I like his interest in everything

i decided to search for and watch this video after reading the Magic ex Libris series Book 1: Libriomancer. It's a great read!

Wonderful documentary though!

One of the most astonishing documentaries I've ever seen. It makes me appreciate the work, skill and generosity of a genius like Johann Gutenberg, and makes me want to become someone whose work and art will live on for generations to come in the hearts of mobile types. Thanks to the person who uploaded this wonderful audiovisual work of art.

My heart breaks for Gutenberg. To me it's like someone who's child goes missing. And yes, I know that nothing feels like a missing child but he must have been broken in some tragic way. At least he did have something tangible to hold in his hand.

Great video, thank you very much , note to self(nts) watched all in it 59:05

Entertaining and informative, but I would have liked to have seen some mention of woodblock printing, which surely provided some inspiration for this invention.

This style of printing is rather interesting. Some of us were able to find and restore obscure sliding table table saws. The Hammond type saw. They are very small and the fence calibrated in pica instead of inches. You got type in blocks of lead with many characters of the same character. You then used this saw to slice off characters and you could control the kerning spacing while doing it. The letter presses evolved from what guttenburg did. Many special print jobs were done this way. Engraver plates allowed the print ink to be embossed into the paper instead of riding on it. It was one way to detect early forged financial instruments. Now everything lives in computers.

The letter 'e' he made found a good place in word 'leges'. Because of the context it probably means 'laws' but another way to translate the latin verb 'leges' is: you will read.

The Rhine River flows northward, so when leaving Mainz wouldn't he be going UP river to Strasbourg rather than "down"?

Truly the most important man who ever lived.

Most influential person in histoty

Omg you would cry if that wooden screw spilt as you were pressing.

Including moveable type!

The Chinese invented printing with movable type. But they didn't use a press. They simply put the paper over the characters to be printed, then pressed over the paper with a brush. This is In responce to the 2 posters that said the Chinese didn't use movable type.

What a cute little model.

0:02:46 "...and, when you print out...." BLUE WHALE [Edit] HA! Perfect timing ... at 8:41, when the mallet was juhhhhhhs about to fall, a commercial for a large chicken nugget came on - looking just like each other. (Oooh, I can imagine what's next - these things always come on 3's!!)

movable

Very interesting. Why are all these types of eccentric people like Stephen and the man building the press are so untidy looking.

I want the history of Korea to be known Just as Gutenberg went to Europe and introduced the printing press after seeing the Jikji made with Joseon's first printing technology, the Gutenberg Bible was not made for the first time. I can't find any information about it. In the West, it is recorded that the Gutenberg Bible changed human history, which needs to be changed.

Ink technology must have been involved, too

58:57 I can. It's called the Muslim world at that time

Sorry, the world's first movable type printing technology for paper books was made of porcelain materials and was invented around AD 1040 in China during the Northern Song Dynasty by the inventor Bi Sheng (990-1051).

Fry like many English 'historians' for the most part spout much rhetorical rubbish repeating same myths over and over. Prior to the 'press' in Europe, the Christian Bible was not suppressed but simply expensive to produce, and there was no monopoly in question. For example, even prior to Tyndale's English version, there is evidence of a multitude of various translations but these were not approved for liturgical or academic use. Second, Fry's comment in the documentary that 'printing the Bible' would be good for 'Christian unity' is false. In fact, since the printing of the Vulgate, the first book Gutenberg produced was the approved Catholic bible, for all the subsequent editions and translations for the past five centuries, Christianity in any form is more varied and disunited. Unfortunately many English documentaries have great narration but the real facts are often twisted to deliver digestible bits of entertainment.

Information/title above is false, and misleading @perspective do some more research before putting out a title like that

The Chinese invented the first printing press. Gutenberg invented the first movable type.

Of course the Chinese had invented printing centuries earlier!!!

Nope. The Chinese had printing presses that preceded Gutenberg by centuries. Same old Western centric crap.

If it weren't for Gutenberg, this comment would have been manually scribed with a USB-enabled quill. Gutenberg killed the USB-enabled quill industry in embryo, and he should be ashamed. Think of the jobs that are not available in USB-enabled quill manufacturing because of his arrogance. Think of the birds whose feathers are needed for USB-enabled quills which have gone extinct because they were not being farmed for feathers to be used in the making of USB-enabled quills. I would trade the Library of Alexandria for a USB-enabled quill any day of the week. Instead, I have to punch these words out on a mechanical keyboard with my meaty fingers like a common monkey trying to type the complete works of Shakespeare in some mad thought experiment.

What is that piano music at the end (56:36)? I've tried Shazam and it turns up nothing. I'd love to know what it is called as it's beautiful yet mysterious. It's almost like something Thomas Newman would've written for American Beauty or The Shawshank Redemption & The Green Mile.